Less than 24 hours after a complete game dazzler from Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and the Phillies will take to the field looking for a 2-0 series lead. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe Lee’s outing on Tuesday, but you know how it went. Save the ninth, it was everything the Phillies hoped for, and more.

Hamels will attempt to match that start in a game where the winds should not be a factor. After a shaky regular season, this is the time of year Hamels has been known to dominate; his track record speaks for itself. Last season, Hamels blew through the Brewers, Dodgers, and Rays to capture the World Series MVP award, plus all of the fame that comes with it. Now one of the most recognizable Phillies, Hamels needs to rekindle that 2008 showing and step one is beating the Rockies to make this a lopsided series.

Aaron Cook opposes Hamels, in what will be just his second career postseason start. He previously pitched against the Boston Red Sox in the 2007 World Series, were he tossed six innings, allowing just three earned in a hard luck loss. Cook spent the early part of this season on the DL, but came back to post a decent stat line: 11-6, 4.16 ERA, 175 hits, 158 innings. His mediocre WHIP (1.405) means he will allow base runners, so look for the Phils to capitalize today.

Yesterday, every starter in the Phillies order had at least one hit, Lee included. That offensive balance, paired with the outstanding pitching performance made for an awesome Game 1. Today, look for the bats to stay hot, as Cook has struggled mightily against the Phils. He’s just 1-5 lifetime with an ERA pushing six. In 21 at-bats against Cook, Chase Utley is hitting .381 with a HR and an amazing 11 RBI.

Your Gameday Beer – Hollywood Blonde
Today’s beer selection is of course in honor of the Phillies flashy starting pitcher. This Blonde beer is a good introduction to the category as its taste is not overpowering. It has a faint citrus flavor with hints of flowers and grass…a real hippie taste from this California Brewery (Great Bear Company). Enjoy it with a pulled pork sandwich topped with some Cole slaw. – By Brian

In the playoffs its not about feeling or confidence, it is about winning. In the playoffs tomorrow isn’t a guarantee. Take Torre for example. He yanked Wolf yesterday in the 4th with a lead. You do what you have to, to win the game.

Phils are in trouble today. Little girl Cole was already making excuses yesterday, complaining about the start time of today’s game. I am getting a bit tired of him this year. Yesterday, you saw an ace. Today, you’re going to see a decent #2 pitcher. Agree with the post above…short leash for Hamels today.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the guys on TBS just made the point some of you need to think about. Yesterday’s game started a lot like this one. We’re going to score our runs, and Cole/defense are settling in after that first inning, just like Cliff/defense settled in yesterday.

Chuck —- I’m all in for the Phils to go after Chone Figgins. Much better at leadoff than Rollins. Move Rollins to seventh, as he will be better than Feliz. Figgins plays third, is a switch hitter and his OBP is near 400 — that’s much better than Jimmy, a fine player and great shortstop, but NOT so great at leadoff

Thats it, get him out of there. The Phillies are getting COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN by Aaron Cook, and runs are at a premium, so I would go to a long reliever here. I can’t believe Aaron Cook is humiliating them like this. Garbage performance from Hamels today. They have got to hope the bullpen can hold it. I dont trust that Hamels wont give up anymore runs at this stage of the game. They CANNOT afford to lose this game going back to Colorado. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. They need to stage a comeback, like now.

I love how you all say hamels i pitching bad. He has mad 1 mistake and that was the home run ball. He struck out 4 batters in a row at one point. that first run was howards fault for letting him move up to second. were down my 3 in the 4th. its over? wow some phillies fans on here.

man them sinker ballers kill this lineup not sure what their doing different against cook because they usually hit him…cole sucks giving up a home run to a guy that hit 2 home runs all year…btw am i the only one that feels like these announcers are rockies biased?tbs anounncers suck.

Shut up Stuart. I want to win this game. This offense is playing poorly today, which means they cannot afford to give up more than 3 runs. If Hamels lets another runner in scoring position hes gotta get pulled. Who cares what inning it is. Were talking about winning baseball games, not coddling Hamels.

Yeah our offense is just getting people on base, i think its been a couple straight innings with our lead off man on but he never makes it too second. thats what happens when you face a sinker ball pitcher and we just keep hitting his sinker, right into double plays or easy ground outs.

Here is the key. Your “ace” if need be needs to pitch 15 scoreless if its needed. If we are scoring 15 runs he can give up 13 and its OK. Its not ERA its not Ks. Its winning when your best pitcher is out there.
Now lets get some runs.

You guys may have seen the TBS crew talk to Milt Thompson a few innings ago. He said that the hitters would need to wait for Cook to get the ball up. I agree, but that isn’t the whole story. They can’t just assume that that ball will come up. They have to find some way to do what they can with what he’s throwing – in other words hit pitches other than mistake pitches.

Welcome back Phillies. Yesterday you looked like last year. Thank god Hamels is pitching like he did this year. Love it. 1-1 Going to our home and we will finish it there. Sorry guys but the Phillies are to up and down to win it all.

Seems like ut has always been the best on the team at hitting sinkerballers. i don’t know if that’s saying alot considering our epic struggles against the sinker. This pitch is definitely our white whale.

I took crap for this when the starters for the series were announced but in a lot of ways Cole irritates me more than lidge or any other player. He didnt earn a right to pitch in the playoffs this year. Yes he did last year but this year Happ and Banton and even Pedro out pitched him.

This is what guys with losing records and league average ERAs do.
10-11 witha 4.32 is fine for your 4th starter. If hap or Blanton had the numbers hed not be considered. But they were better and they werent considered anyway.

Paul i said he wasnt pitching bad BEFORE that last inning. before that he has allowed 4 hits, one cheap run that howard cost us and then one bad pitch that was taken out. last inning he let it all go and is not what he was in the first few innings. he had 5 strikeouts before that inning. 5 strike outs in 4 innings? with one bad pitch. ill take it. but now hes getting rattled and should be taken out. but we desperately need to start taking pitches and make this guy throw more than one pitch an ab.

and this is for craig. you said no you didnt but someone pretended to be you. ok so did you comment anymore? or did you shut up? you shut up, exactly.

I agree and think Blanton shoudlve pitched today. Then hamels, then Happ. I like a lefty then a righty because it will switch up things, force you to switch up your lineup and force you to use different guys. not letting guys get settled in. we need a shut down inning here, and then a couple runs in the 6th. just everyone remember. we scored 5 runs in two innings yesterday. its not over yet boys.

there you go again. whats a matter you upset you guys suck this year. lucky to play in a division that is horrible. cole is a nancy boy. he is horrible. one year wonder. we will pound you at home. you will be knocked out in the first round. enjoy it.

im so annoyed with tbs. yesterday the audio kept cutting out. then today the audio is cutting out and now the video feedis all messed up. cant espn or nbc or fox or someone who knows how to do baeball get the job?

Blanton needed to start the game. But hell Cole had a nice K per nine ratio.
Make an excuse for him.
Heres my excuse he was on the red carpet and making commercials.
I did see a nice interview on HBO for the entourage premier. Too bad i didnt see any big games pitched.

Andrew…agree with you 100%. Hamels had a great year last year. It’s OK to go “hollywood” after a year like that, I guess. But at some point, you have to shut down hollywood and bust your ass to get back to or above the level of the previous year. Hamels never did that. He came to camp out of shape and it has shown all year. That is what has annoyed me so much about him this year. All you need to do is look at Howard…giant new contract, decent year, WS and he STILL busted his ass to lose weight and come to camp in great shape.

for the record everyone, i didn’t make the nasty comment pretending to be craig yesterday, second he’s already lost all credibility with me so i don’t care what he says. thirdly i’m not gonna run out of the thread and cry because he made fun of me like he ran out yesterday even though we know why he really ran out of the thread and like david letterman say that’s all i’m going to say about that lol

How do 2 better pitchers relieve a lesser pitcher?
Bad karma hre for rewarding a guy with a losing record and league average ERa when you have 2 guys with better records and lower ERAs relieving him. I dont get it.

Using Blanton and Happ in the same game is the worst decision Charlie has ever made. He must have some gut feeling about Charlie. I had such a good feeling going into today and now…deflated. Hopefully we can somehow pull this one out and then we have three chances to close this out.

The Phillies better mount a comeback considering they used Blanton and Happ in this game. I guess starting pitchers throw bullpen sessions between starts so it’s possible Blanton and Happ might be able to pitch in game 3? I hope the offense can get something going in the bottom of the 7th.

Well you do bring up and interesting point Joe. Blanton did only throw 19 pitches so it is feasible he pitches again. I doubt game 3, possibly game 4. Happ, depending on how he is feeling could possibly pitch game 4 too. Who knows at this point?

not sure why myers even came in here. when was the last time he pitched? wasnt it a couple weeks ago? I could be wrong but if im right why would you bring someone who hasnt seen livebatting for a couple weeks in a position like this where you absolutely cannot let up a run.

Personally, I would like to see that wife-beating drunk Brett Myers OUT of a Phillies uniform next year. He stinks despite good stuff and is paid way too much. We could get two better pitchers for what he makes with far less drama.

This sucks. Happ looked pretty hurt, which means Pedro Martinez Saturday. That seventh inning, and to a lesser extent the sixth, proves just how critical were the Park/Moyer injuries. After Hamels leaves, either could come in, especially Park, and can pitch a few innings, meaning that our Saturday wouldn’t be in flux, and that Happ wouldn’t be hurt.

and of course everyone knows what movie that’s from and who said it unless you’re really young and/or don’t care about movies..lol
nice they avoided giving up the run..now they need to get this last out

if we get out of this inning without giving up a run. philly needs to get real loud. utley, howard, werth, ibanez. our run producers in the 6th. this game isnt over IF we can get out of this without giving up a run. if we give up one it will be pretty deflating.

By the way since the phillies will lose this game, game 3 is up in the air on saturday as it is a night game and it is supposed to be freezing. Rocks are gonna win it in 4 I guarantee my life on it. You just wasted Blanton and Happ who got injured and you’re gonna start Pedro against us in Coors Field. Forget it. No team can win a world series without a bullpen. You guys had an amazing bullpen last year but everyone sucks this year. Hamels sucked today, blanton wasted and happ injured. LET ME REPEAT I GUARANTEE ROCKS WIN IT IN 4. like 7-4 game 3 and 3-2 game 4.

In reading some of these posts, I truly realize how RIDICULOUS and NEGATIVE some of you people are…..actually thinking that Cole pitched poorly just so he could be pulled from the game to be with his wife as she gave birth……

…..which I might add is A BIT MORE FREAKING IMPORTANT THAN THIS BASEBALL GAME!!!!!!!

Quentin, do me a favor and shut up. Happs xrays came back negative, blanton had thrown 19 pitches i believe. in other words, neither of them are wasted. youre an idiot and a waste of internet space for commenting here. go to a rockies blog where no one knows anything about baseball. thanks.

Who else would get the Jeltz?
Christ people have excuses. If its thier first child labor could last 20 hours easy.
He pitched like CRAP like he has all year. Baby or no baby. I dont want to see him starting agian this series.

listen , i was supposed to drop this, but quentin is craig who was embarrased off this board and now he’s pretending like he has a job and just got home from work and now that i’ve exposed CRAIG the FAKE rockies fan i guarantee craig will be back to lie and say it’s not him…it’s so obvious..lol

Ray, another wayyou can tell he didnt just get home for work. he acts like he knows nothing about the game saying alright lets go rockies, but then somehow he knows every single thing that happened in the game.

“actually thinking that Cole pitched poorly just so he could be pulled from the game to be with his wife as she gave birth……
…..which I might add is A BIT MORE FREAKING IMPORTANT THAN THIS BASEBALL GAME!!!!!!!”

Huston Street will get a 1-2-3 inning for save and series will be tied at 1 heading to colorado for games 3 and 4 which rocks will win both and win series and eliminate the “world champion” phillies for the second time in 3 years.

Wouldn’t Hamels be off the hook since he was responsible for four runs?

Andrew, can you honestly tell me with a straight face that if you found out your wife was in labor either shortly before a presentation, or in the middle of a big meeting, your performance wouldn’t be affected?

im not as worried as i was before about the next game. we are down 5-4 going into the ninth when we have played terrible. no hitting until the 6th inning. so hopefully we can carry these last few innings into colorado.

stuart exactly, it’s so obvious and i was pointing it out just so we can stop wasting our time with this fraud. any rockies fan that comes in here is CRAIG THE FAKE I JUMP ON THE BANDWAGON AND HIDE WHEN MY TEAM IS LOSING AND THEN COME BACK WHEN THEY ARE WINNING BUT WHEN IT’S POINTED OUT WHAT A FRAUD I AM BECAUSE I ONLY COME ON WHEN MY TEAM IS WINNING I CHANGE MY NAME TO SOMETHING ELSE AND HOPE THAT MY TEAM WINS OR I WILL HAVE TO GO BACK INTO THE WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM

Francisco is a diamond in the rough. He has power, speed, plays great defense and is really hungry. I hope Rollins gets a chance to win this one. You know he will be swinging at everything. I hate to say it, but what a great game. I hope we win, as it would be even greater. Wish I were there.

no matter what happens this game we aren’t that team from 2 years ago, we kicked ass yesterday we showed heart yesterday, and assuming no other starters have pregnant wives we’ll take this series lolllllllllll….let’s get this ninth i can feel it

there we good madson. lets go phillies. they were talking yesterday how street is good, but when he does get hit, he gets hit hard. well lets go hit him real hard.
im hoping francisco gets out. chooch gets a double, stairs hits a walk off. we can dream right?

I hope they can pull this off, the Rockies are VERY hard to beat in Colorado. If Cole wasnt mentally in it, he should have gone to Charlie and told him, because now Hamels is done, Blanton is done, hopefully Happ can go. It will be VERY difficult to win a game in Colorado. We usually play better against the Rockies at CBP.

Of course there is no RockiesNation for Quentin to share his feelings with, they havent had the time to set up the website yet. Rockies fans ONLY appear when they are in the post season…and winning at that. I hope they do better on Saturday, Im supposed to be there.

So apparently I am reading Hamels left because his wife was pregnant, or just had a baby, but maybe Hamels should have gone to Charlie and tell him he wasnt mentally in this thing today. Im sure Hamels wont get the Jeltz today, but honestly, he should, whether for giving up 4 runs in 5 innings, or not informing Charlie he wasnt mentally in this. However seeing how he is in the National Media for complaining about having to pitch a day game, he wasnt mentally in it regardless of having a baby or not.

Blast. Poor Charlie had to put the patch-work bullpen together, and paid the price for not having Park and Moyer by having to run Happ and Blanton out there in the 6th and 7th. Maybe we shouldn’t have left Condrey off the roster…but he hasn’t been that reliable lately either, has he?

hey wow, there are more Rockies fans on the internet than in the streets of Colorado. Craig, I live in Colorado (not by choice), and honestly, you should be embarrassed by the Rockies “Fans”. The team is pretty good, and even with this team, Rockies fans are NON existant until they make the playoffs. I know if my fellow Phillies fans were non existant when the Phillies werent in the playoffs, I would be embarrassed.

Honestly, I saw that Hamels was pitching today during a day game, and I already chalked it up as a loss just with Hamels outspokenness of piitching during a day game. While I think its complete BS to have 2 day games in Philly with 2 night Games in Colorado instead of the other way around, but really, it just seemed like Hamels wasnt into it.

Im usually good at that Ray, but I have trouble with ignoring “frauds” when it comes to Mutts and Rockies fans, because I HATE both teams. I hate the Mutts, because…Well its the Mutts, and I HATE the Rockies because I live in Colorado, BARELY hear anything about the team, see no hats, Jersey’s t-shirts nothing between Colorado Springs and Denver the entire year UNTIL they are in the mix for the playoffs. I HATE fair weather band wagon fans.

i love how the rockies fans now think its over. if i remember right cliff lee dazzeled them yesterday in a 5-1 win. this wasa 5-4 win that they had to scratch and claw for. i think right now the upper hand is still with the phils.

The Phils could not get their first or leadoff batters on today and that was key in this Rox win today plus the fact that they could not get a big hit in many situations with runners on base.

Hamels should get the Jeltz Award for giving up four runs in five innings in a big game in which he apparently was not mentally prepared. Did not pitch that badly but threw a bad pitch over the middle of the plate to the Colorado catcher Torrealba who hit the 2 run homer which turned out to be the big Rox hit in this game. Other consideration for the Jeltz would be Ruiz who swung at the first pitch and made the third out in the 6th inning with runners on base trying to tie up the game and along with Werth. left three runners stranded today. Also could consider Blanton who gave up what wound up being the deciding run in relief. Tough loss for the Phils who struggled uphill all game long.

First, I agree with Andrew. 2nd, Stuart that probably has something to do with the Rockies only being 1 game over .500 when they play on the road, and 21 games over .500 when they play in Colorado. I agree the series definatly is NOT over, however the upper hand is NOT with the Phillies right now. The Rockies are a damn good team at home, and a mediocre team home. The Phillies were damn near untouchable on the road BEFORE the All Star break, but were not as untouchable on the road since the All Star Break. I hope they remember how to win on the road, but the upper hand definately goes to the Rockie because of the weather.

MikeB, you mean to tell me you would give Werth the Jeltz? LOL. I really dont think thats a very bright comment buddy. Werth left 3 on base, but did hit a Home Run, and throw a runner out at 3rd from Right field. Ruiz maybe, not for swinging at first pitch for 1 at bat, but for telling Blanton to go to third instead of going with the out.

Geeeeeezzzzz guys Hamels didn’t come thru again….oh and by the way the Rockies had 92 wins so much for fans lite 51-30 at home ….hmmmmm ya might have seen your last philly home game today…as a matter a facto I think ya did ….the series will not come back here…poor Brian of CO ..now your complaining about the time of the games… sounds like a Hamels groupie ….why don’t ya write the back-stabbing Senator Arlen Specter do it quick cause he might change parties again…..he’ll hold an investigation. I doubt if you ever lived in Co. you probably never made it out of Fishtown!

Happ will be fine but Charlie truly annoys me more and more. To use 2 starting pitchers in one inning? that was just plain dumb. Hamels was out of it the whole game and should have said that and not pitched. Now, we are stuck with Pedro in game 3? god help us…….Make sure kendrick is ready to go in then……charlie is just not a good manager…and he makes absolutely no sense when talking. I said this all year, so its not just now. And the lack of respect or anything for happ…pathetic. Happ deserves to go to a team who would understand his role and use him in that role

Nice to know a moron like me has spankyYankee on my side. I’m glad I’m not the only idiot that confuses the word your with you’re. I’m so glad we didn’t get the olympics because I hate america. Also, I think the only way we’ll be safe from another terrorist attack is if Bin Laden sets off a nuclear weapon somewhere in the united states. Confused? You’re not the only one. Time to go cry again. (Oops there goes another sponsor)

Brian of CO; your comment is insulting, buddy. This is a baseball blog, not a personal critique of one’s intelligence blog. Ruiz had a piss poor at bat. Werth did have the home run but the television video replay of the runner he threw out at third seems to indicate that the Rox runner was safe and the ump blew the call. Werth still left three runners stranded today; had he driven in one more run, it would have wound up tied. I just posted that I thought Werth could be a consideration for the Jelts. I did not say that he should get it. I t is all just an opinion.

I think it’s great all the other fans come in and try and rile us up..lol They are more interested in us than their own teams. We should all be flattered. How about when the Craig the fake Rockies fan came in here and was giving us crap until the phillies started kicking the rockies ass? LMAO..He showed his true colors by ducking out. Where was SpankyYankee yesterday? There’s nothing any of us can do about the fact that they can come and go as they please. We stay here win or lose. He comes if the rockies win, he’ll leave if they lose.
Imagine how these idiots who are obssesed with us felt last year when lidge was on his knees with his arms in the air?
They can hate us all they want, they can enjoy it when we lose, hide from us when we win, but they can’t take last year away from us.
GO PHILLIES!!! Game 3 is only 2 days away, it’s also on a saturday night when hopefully everyone is off from work, and we can all partyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

their just like the mets ray they were no where to be found this year and when the phils were winning the world series but came on here last year acting like their the best…skankeeyankee seems to forget the phils took 2 of 3 against the yankees at yankees stadium and could of been a sweep if not for lidge…i hope we make it back to the world series and face the yankees because we’ll take em and the frontrunner will be no where to be found.

Things are looking bad, for sure; this was pretty much a pivotal game. Thanks to whomever it was who reminded me this might be the last home game of the year. But truly, Hamels had been acting like a pissy little girl; honestly, complaining about having to pitch day games? If it was such a problem for him maybe he could have let that fact be known prior to the set of the rotation. Or just maybe his wife being seconds away from labor could have been his issue, i’m sure he’ll make mention of that now after the fact. Hope they name the kid Scape Goat. Or maybe Day Game.